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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25985599">The Look</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mookie/pseuds/Mookie'>Mookie</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Gundam Wing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Timeline, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 12:01:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,271</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25985599</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mookie/pseuds/Mookie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Duo was used to that look by now; Heero used it on nearly every occasion, and it could mean anything from “shut up, Duo, you're bothering me” to “I still can't figure out why I didn't kill you when I had the chance.”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Look</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Every now and then I get a little nostalgic for LiveJournal and log in to confirm it's still dead. And sometimes I find something I've written that only exists in LJ. This was my response to a request to see what Heero and Duo got up to in their spare time.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He should have known better. He should have <em>known,</em> but he'd hoped for the best anyway. It was Duo's recent streak of stubborn optimism, at least where Heero was concerned, that had prompted their latest argument.<br/>
<br/>
Not quite an argument, Duo reminded himself. It had barely been an exchange of words at all, and Duo wasn't really angry with Heero, just frustrated. It was that <em>look</em> Heero had given him when he'd asked. Duo was used to that look by now; Heero used it on nearly every occasion, and it could mean anything from “shut up, Duo, you're bothering me” to “I still can't figure out why I didn't kill you when I had the chance.”<br/>
<br/>
It was just that he'd been seeing that look less frequently since they'd come to this school, and although Duo certainly hadn't forgotten they were undercover, he'd started to feel as if he and Heero were friends, of sorts, not just comrades in arms. It had just been a simple question, and it wasn't like Duo had harangued him about it. He'd simply asked if Heero might be interested in a friendly game of basketball with their classmates, and Heero had made him feel like he'd asked, “Hey, Heero, mind if I slam a nest full of angry hornets on your dick?”<br/>
<br/>
At least he assumed that <em>The Look</em> would cover that scenario. Maybe he'd try it one day, just to see. Maybe, but probably not, just in case Heero thought Duo was into that sort of thing. As well as Duo thought he knew Heero, there was a limit to what anyone could figure out as far as what went through Yuy's head. For all he knew, <em>Heero</em> was into that sort of thing. Duo kind of doubted it, though.<br/>
<br/>
He sighed and walked to the basketball court, alone.<br/>
<br/>
An hour later and a good deal sweatier, Duo headed back to the dorms. The door to Heero's room was closed, so Duo didn't bother stopping by. It was still closed on the way back from the shower, and Duo wondered if Heero had been so annoyed by the basketball question that he was shutting himself in his room. Duo knew he shouldn't take it personally; it wasn't like Heero was friendly with anyone he met and he was pretty focused when he was working. Heero probably didn't even realize that he'd annoyed Duo, and if he had, he wasn't likely going to care.<br/>
<br/>
Duo may have been annoyed by <em>The Look,</em> but he was more annoyed that he wanted to know what Heero had been thinking, even if it had nothing to do with him.<br/>
<br/>
Even though it almost <em>definitely</em> had nothing to do with him.<br/>
<br/>
He yanked his comb through his hair with more force than necessary and cursed at the sharp pain. He rubbed his scalp and forced himself to finish the job with a little more care, after which he quickly braided his hair and decided to take a walk. It was much cooler out now, and he enjoyed walking anyway, at least when it was for pleasure and not out of necessity.<br/>
<br/>
He had no plan for where he was going; he simply followed the cement path that led around the school, and he hadn't realized how late it had gotten until he saw the sun low in the horizon. He stopped in his tracks to stare at the sky and the way it went from purple to bright orange. The end of the daylight cycle on L2 didn't produce colors like this, and he'd read about sunsets but never actually seen one. The single photo he'd come across in a book didn't do them justice.<br/>
<br/>
“You're blocking my view.”<br/>
<br/>
Duo started, then silently cursed himself for allowing himself to be caught off guard, even if it was by Mr. Perfect himself. He recovered quickly and sat down on the grass next to Heero. Two could play the silent and brooding game.<br/>
<br/>
At least two of them could up until the last of the brilliant colors faded.<br/>
<br/>
“Didn't expect to see you out here,” Duo said conversationally.<br/>
<br/>
He expected Heero to say the same, not to ask, “Why not?”<br/>
<br/>
“Because...” Duo paused. “You just don't seem the type.”<br/>
<br/>
“What type is that?”<br/>
<br/>
This was already the longest conversation they'd had, if you didn't count all the times Heero went on a long-winded monologue about one thing or another. Which Duo didn't, because a conversation involved more than one person doing all the talking.<br/>
<br/>
Duo gestured vaguely. “The sunset kind of person.”<br/>
<br/>
He was so sure that Heero would next ask him to define what made a 'sunset sort of person,' but Heero continued to surprise him, because that was kind of Heero's thing.<br/>
<br/>
“How was basketball?”<br/>
<br/>
“Good,” Duo said, because really, how else was he supposed to answer that? “It was good.”<br/>
<br/>
“Did you win?”<br/>
<br/>
“We were just playing for fun.”<br/>
<br/>
“Ah,” Heero responded, and just when Duo thought that was the end of it, he added, “so you lost.”<br/>
<br/>
“Fuck off, I did not.” Son of a bitch, Duo could hear Heero chuckling under his breath. “You're a riot, Heero, seriously.”<br/>
<br/>
“Hmm,” was Heero's next nonverbal response, and Duo didn't think he was reading too much into it to interpret that as Heero being pleased with himself.<br/>
<br/>
“You should have come with us,” he added daringly.<br/>
<br/>
“I came here.”<br/>
<br/>
<em>Obviously,</em> Duo wanted to say. Instead, he asked, “Why?”<br/>
<br/>
Heero was quiet for a minute – actually a minute and forty-two seconds, not that Duo was timing him or anything – and then he said, “I wanted to take a break from work.”<br/>
<br/>
“So why didn't you come with us, then?”<br/>
<br/>
It wasn't quite so dark out that Duo couldn't tell that Heero was giving him <em>The Look</em> again. It was proof that Duo was getting to know Heero, though, because that look told him more than any number of words could have said.<br/>
<br/>
Duo hadn't forgotten they were undercover, but he tried to find the normalcy where he could while they were here. Heero, on the other hand, he lived and breathed the mission. To Heero, anything related to interacting with their classmates was recon, and therefore work.<br/>
<br/>
Duo remembered those rare days off from school and chores, when the best part about not having to do anything was exactly that. He moved a little closer to Heero, just close enough to nudge him with his shoulder.<br/>
<br/>
<em>I get it,</em> is what he meant to say, and the fact that Heero didn't shove him away or give him <em>The Look 2.0</em> suggested that maybe Heero was getting to know Duo better, too.<br/>
<br/>
He found Heero out there again the next evening and sat down next to him. They watched the sun set in silence, and before Duo could think of anything to say, he felt it, a firm nudge at his shoulder. He glanced over at Heero, who was staring up at the sky, and Duo could almost convince himself he'd imagined it, except for the smile tugging at the corners of Heero's lips.<br/>
<br/>
Duo leaned back, resting on his elbows. He didn't need to say anything, because this time the silence wasn't awkward or uncomfortable. He was still learning to interpret Heero, but he was pretty sure that shoulder nudge meant that Heero thought of Duo as a little more than a fellow soldier, too. He knew he'd wear the guy down eventually.<br/>
<br/>
Heero could try all he wanted to bite back a smile, but Duo wasn't Heero. He tipped his head back and grinned broadly at the stars.</p>
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